In the first three Gospels the Lord Jesus charged His disciples to preach the gospel, to teach the nations, and to baptize them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47). In the Gospel of John, however, the Lord Jesus did not charge His disciples in this way. Rather, in John 15 He revealed to His disciples the secret of life. This secret of life is so mysterious and abstract that no human words can adequately utter it. Thus, the Lord Jesus used the vine and its branches as a symbol of this mystery of life.
It seems that the vine with its branches is simple to understand. Everybody knows what a vine is. But in this symbol something mysterious and secret regarding life is indicated. The branches abide in the vine, and as they abide they bear fruit. This fruit comes from the overflow of the inner life. My burden in this message is to point out that to have the proper and genuine spreading of the gospel, we must have the overflow of the inner life. This one, unique life is in three sections: in the vine, in the branches, and in the fruit. The fruit is on the branches, and the branches are on the vine. Although there are three sections, these sections are not different in life or in nature. In life and in nature they are absolutely one. The vine, the branches, and the fruit are different only in form. The vine has one form, the branches have another form, and the fruit has still a different form.
Why did not the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John charge His disciples to preach the gospel or to teach the nations? It is because the Gospel of John is the gospel of life, and life does not require preaching or teaching. No one can produce fruit by preaching to a tree. How foolish it would be to go into an orchard and preach to the trees regarding fruit-bearing. No one would be foolish enough to do this, exhorting the trees to be diligent to bring forth fruit. When some read this, they may say, “Does not Matthew 28 tell us to teach the nations? Is there not preaching mentioned in Mark 16 and in Luke 24?” Do not twist my words. I have not said that there is no preaching or teaching in the other Gospels. But do not neglect the final gospel, the Gospel of John. Everyone realizes that the final word is the decisive word. Although we may speak a great deal, our final word gives our decision. Among the four Gospels, John, the gospel of life, is the final one. Life is final. You may have many things, but if you do not have life, it all amounts to nothing. In John 15 there is no teaching or preaching.
We need to see the things of God’s mystery in His dispensation. We do not use the word “dispensation” in the sense of an age, but with the meaning of economy, referring to God’s dispensing administration. God’s economy is to dispense Himself into His chosen and predestinated people. Our work must not be on the low level of today’s Christianity. Our preaching of the gospel must be on the highest level, which is to minister life, even Christ, to people. This is the preaching of the gospel on the highest plane.
The Gospel of John reveals that the Son is the declaration of the Father. This matter is found in chapters one to thirteen. In John 14:8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and it suffices us.” Philip seemed to be saying, “Lord, we desire to see the Father. If You show Him to us, we will be satisfied.” In chapters one through thirteen, the Father was expressed, declared, to the disciples. But the pitiful thing was that although the Lord Jesus had been with them for more than three years, they did not yet realize that He was the declaration and expression of the Father. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” Hence, the Father is declared, expressed, in the Son.
After pointing out to the disciples in verses 9 through 13 that He was the Father expressed, beginning in verse 16, the Lord Jesus told them that He would pray to the Father to give them another Comforter, the Spirit of reality (John 14:17). The Lord Jesus indicated here that when the Spirit of reality comes, He would not only be with the disciples but also in them. The Lord seemed to be saying, “Although I have been among you, I have been unable to get into you and abide in you. Now, I shall ask the Father to send another Comforter, the Spirit of reality, that He may abide in you.’’ The worldly people do not know this Spirit because they cannot see Him. But the Lord Jesus said, “You know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you” (John 14:17). We cannot know the Spirit by our physical senses or by our mind; we know Him by our inner sense. How do you know that today the Spirit of God is in you? Have you seen or touched the Spirit? No, it is by our inner sense deep within that we know that the Spirit of God is in us. Often our mind will raise questions about this, and our emotion may be contrary, not liking the Holy Spirit. Have you not experienced this? Many times my emotion has said, “I don’t like the Holy Spirit. You should give Him up.” On many other occasions, our will has decided not to follow the Spirit. However, no matter what our mind thinks, our emotion says, or our will determines, we simply cannot get rid of the sense deep within us. This sense is deeper than our mind, emotion, and will. We can never convince Him. The more we fight against Him, the more He speaks to us. Did you have this experience before you were saved? Of course not. But since the day you were saved, you have had something within you that would never give you up. How marvelous and wonderful it is that He would never leave us! The world does not know Him, for it cannot see Him. But we know Him because He abides in us. Who can deny that the true believers in Jesus have this abiding Spirit?
The “He,” the abiding Spirit, in verse 17 is the “I” in verse 18. Verse 17 says, “He abides with you and shall be in you,” and verse 18 says, “I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you.” Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “He will come to abide in you, and I will not leave you orphans. His coming is just My coming. He is I.” Following this, the Lord says in verse 20, “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Who is in us—the “He” of verse 17 or the “I” of verse 20? The answer is that both are in us as one. The “He” of verse 17 equals the “I” of verses 18 and 20. By all this we see that the Father is expressed in the Son and that the Son is realized as the Spirit.